Celebrating Excellence: The National Jazz Honors and Music Education Foundations
The world of music thrives on recognizing and nurturing talent, fostering creativity, and promoting quality literature. Several organizations and contests play a crucial role in achieving these goals, particularly in the realm of jazz and band music. This article explores various initiatives, awards, and achievements in music education and composition, highlighting the importance of these efforts in shaping the future of music.
NBA/William D. Revelli Memorial Composition Contest
The National Band Association (NBA) plays a pivotal role in furthering quality literature for bands in America. The William D. Revelli Memorial Composition Contest, sponsored by J.W. Pepper, stands as a testament to this commitment. Named after Dr. William Revelli, who served as Director of Bands at the University of Michigan for 36 years and as NBA President from 1976-78, the contest has been awarding prizes since 1977.
The NBA desires that the winning compositions from this contest reflect its mission. Winning works should be of significant structural, analytical, and technical quality and allow bands to program them as part of their standard repertoire. A glance through the list of past winners reveals some very familiar names.
Each year, the contest receives approximately 50-80 entries from all over the world, ranging in scope and quality, from new to well-established veteran composers. During the evaluation process, entries are narrowed down to a select number of finalists, which are brought to Chicago each December during the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. There, a panel of leading public school, university, and military band directors meets to determine a winner.
Recent Winners
The 2025 winner is Benjamin Horne with his winning work titled Spiritual Symphony. Benjamin Horne (b.1995) is a conductor, composer/arranger, and low brass performer. Horne’s works and arrangements span various styles. Horne has worked with and had music performed by musicians from the Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, San Antonio Symphony (now reorganized as Philharmonic), Atlanta Symphony, Chicago Lyric Opera, Houston Opera, the President’s Own US Marine Band, as well as other renowned instrumental soloists. He has worked with the SOLI Chamber Ensemble, Musiqa (Houston), Atlanta Chamber Players, Decoda (New York), and Picosa (Chicago) professional new music ensembles as well as several university large ensembles. His music has been featured as required repertoire for several international solo competitions and as lab music for conducting symposia. Horne’s music has been performed across the world in Europe, Asia, and South America. Also, his music has been performed at several events including state music educator conferences, the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the International Trombone Festival, the Lätzsch Trombone Festival in Germany, the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference, the International Euphonium Tuba Festival, the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival, International Trumpet Guild Conference, the International Horn Society Symposium, as well as the College Band Directors National Association Conference.
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Horne’s primary instrument is the euphonium. He is a past winner of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference Solo Artist Competition. He has also been a finalist in the Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference Solo Artist Competition and the International Euphonium Tuba Festival Solo Artist Division. Horne was a member of the Columbus State University Trombone Choir under the direction of Dr. Bradley Palmer. He was among the ensemble members on the Choir’s 2017 CD, Full Tilt. Horne was a member of the Teal Sound and Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps including the latter’s 2016 Drum Corps International World Championship corps. He currently performs as a member of the Sequence Euphonium Quartet where he is also composer-in-residence.
Horne has worked with various ensembles as a guest conductor and educator including the Georgia Brass Band as well as several school ensembles and honor bands. Mr. Horne served as a middle and high school assistant band director at Holcomb Bridge Middle School and Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia where he also led the jazz program. He has also worked as an instructor and clinician across the United States teaching sectionals, private lessons, masterclasses, and marching band at all levels from beginners to university students. He was also a brass instructor for the Sacramento Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps.
He is currently a Doctoral Wind Conducting and Master’s Music Composition student at Michigan State University. He previously attended the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University (GA).
Spiritual Symphony is a collection of settings of African American spirituals for wind band. Together, this compilation synthesizes into a large work that engages with symphonic form.
Committee Members
The NBA William D. Revelli Memorial Composition Contest Committee includes:
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- Cloud State University (MN)
- Travis Cross, UCLA
- Arris Golden, Michigan State University
- Jennifer Hamilton, Red Mountain High School (AZ)
- Chadwick Kamei, Pearl City High School (HI)
- Tremon Kizer, University of Central Florida
- Diane Koutsulis, Retired (NV)
- Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin, Penn State University
- Jason Nam, Indiana University
- Sue Samuels, Furman University (SC)
- Colonel Don Schofield, United States Air Force Band
- Shanti Simon, University of Colorado
Previous Winners
Previous winners of the NBA/William D. Revelli Composition Contest include:
- David Biedenbender, Enigma (2024)
- Viet Cuong, Deciduous (2023)
- James David, Flying Jewels (2022)
- Frank Ticheli, Lux Perpetua (2021)
- Brian Balmages, Love and Light (2020)
- Omar Thomas, Come Sunday (2019)
- Wayne Oquin, Song for Silent Voices (2018)
- James Stephenson, Symphony No. 2 "Voices" (2017)
- Philip Sparke, A Colour Symphony (2016)
- Paul Dooley, Masks and Machines (2015)
- Wayne Oquin, Affirmation (2014)
- Oliver Waespi, Audivi Media Nocte (2013)
- Michael Schelle, The End of the World (2012)
- Scott Lindroth, Passage (2011)
- Steven Bryant, Ecstatic Waters (2010)
- John Mackey, Aurora Awakes (2009)
- Steven Bryant, Suite Dreams (2008)
- Steven Bryant, Radiant Joy (2007)
- Frank Ticheli, Symphony No. 2 (2006)
- Philip Sparke, Music of the Spheres (2005)
- Joseph Turrin, Illuminations for Solo Trombone and Wind Symphony (2004)
NBA Merrill Jones Memorial Young Band Composition Contest
The NBA Merrill Jones Memorial Young Band Composition Contest is held every two years, unless no winner is chosen. The contest is for composers under 40 years of age to be held every other year, now in the even numbered years, and which would produce works for concert band in the Grade 3-4 category.
Works must not exceed eight (8) minutes in length, must be the original work of the composer, and not be under contract to any publisher. Deadline for submission is November 1st. Wingert-Jones reserves the right of first refusal for publication. The current prize to the winner is $2000. The winner is announced at the NBA General Membership Meeting at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago following a meeting of the contest committee. The contest committed is chaired by NBA member Matt Smith.
Recent Winner
The 2024 winner is Ryan Fillinger with his winning work titled Fight or Flight. Ryan Fillinger (b. 2001) is an Oregon-born composer of wind ensemble, orchestral, and chamber music. His works fuse styles of the 18th, 19th, and 20th Century with modern techniques and contemporary instrumentation. Ryan currently pursues composition and wind conducting at the University of North Texas (UNT), where he has studied with Dr. Sungji Hong, Dr. Kirsten Soriano, and film composer Bruce Broughton.
Ryan has earned several awards and accolades, showcasing his increasing popularity as an emerging composer. In 2024, he was named the winner of the Pennsylvania Symphonic Winds 2023 Composition Contest. Also in 2023, Ryan was recognized as the winner of the Austin Symphonic Band 2023 Young Composers’ Contest. He was a finalist in the ASCAP 2022 Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, and also earned second-place of the Florida Bandmasters Association 2021 Young Composers Competition. Ryan has received performances from several ensembles including the Royal Australian Air Force Band, the Pennsylvania Symphonic Winds, and ensembles at UNT including the Wind Orchestra, the Wind Ensemble, the Concert Band, and the Symphony Orchestra. Ryan also frequently collaborates with student and faculty chamber ensembles at UNT to produce exciting and dynamic new chamber works.
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Ryan’s passion and dedication as a composer has garnered recognition from many, who call him “one of the most promising young composers of his generation”, and one “[whose] fresh voice will undoubtedly craft a wonderful new addition to the wind band repertoire.” (Austin Symphonic Band)
The Fight or Flight response is defined as a psychological response triggered when one is faced with a danger or threat. It’s a natural reaction which releases hormones that prepares the body to either stay and confront, or to flee. In other words, it is our most primal and basic survival instinct.
I pondered how I could capture such a concept with music, so that it was thrilling and exciting as well as perceivable and easy to grasp. While examining this idea’s two main aspects - “fight” and “flight” - several musical ideas began to reveal themselves; I was soon left with a chaotic list of motifs. I eventually narrowed it down to two main motifs, each characterizing their own section in the music. The first section represents the “fight” response, which immediately opens with a bold theme played by French Horns, Alto Saxophones, Clarinets, and muted Trumpet. This theme grows more urgent as it evolves, adding piercing woodwind interjections and swelling auxiliary percussion. Suddenly, the music takes a frantic and exhilarating turn, segueing the listener into the second section: the “flight” response. Here, a theme characterized by unstable minor 6th leaps and an accompanying eighth-note motor is passed around the ensemble, first presented by the French Horns and Trumpets. This theme is later developed upon in a diminished pitch environment with more aggressive and chaotic gestures; fragments of Dies Irae from Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem can also be heard, which in this context is meant to suggest the increasing presence of imminent danger. The music then returns to a more tonal setting and restates the “flight” theme once more before finally closing with the opening “fight” section.
Committee Members
The NBA Merrill Jones Memorial Young Band Composition Contest Committee includes:
- Cmdr. Kelly Cartwright, United States Navy Band
- Chris Chapman, Central Michigan University
- Armand Hall, Eastman School of Music / Gateways Music Festivals
- Brooke Johnson, University of Delaware
- Nan Moore, Retired (KY)
- Kelli Pence, Broken Arrow High School (OK)
- Scott Pierson, 133rd Army Band (WA)
- Brian Walden, Virginia Wind Symphony
- Gregory Whitmore, California State University - Fullerton / Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble
Previous Winners
Previous winners of the NBA/Merrill Jones Composition Contest include:
- Isabella Morrill, Voyage of the Northern Lights (2022)
- Tom Davoren, A Midwestern Suite (2020)
- James M. David, With Soul Serene (2018)
- Joshua Hummel, Fanfare for the Appalachians: I-77 (2016)
- David Faleris, Of Chivalry and Valor (2014)
- Jess Turner, Exultant Heart (2012)
- Jack Hughes, After Rain (2010)
- Ryan Main, The Clash (2007)
- Brett Dietz, shards of glass (2005)
- Jonathan Newman, Moon by Night (2003)
- Samuel Hazo, Novo Lenio (2001)
- Charles Rochester Young, Legends of the Northern Wind (1999)
- Robert T. Smith, Panther Fire (1996)
- David Checketts, Festival de Ladrones (Festival of Thieves) (1994)
- Robert Cronin, A Soldier's March (1992)
NBA/Alfred Young Band Composition Contest
The NBA/Alfred Publishing Young Band Composition Contest is sponsored by Alfred Publishing. This young band contest seeks to find composers writing for grades 1-3. There is a cash prize for the winner, plus the possibility of the winning work being published in Alfred’s Young Band catalog.
Recent Winner
Minoo earned his Bachelor of Music in Composition from New England Conservatory, where he studied under the tutelage of Michael Gandolfi. He will earn his Master in Music in composition (2025) at the University of Texas at Austin Butler School of Music where he is under the tutelage of Omar Thomas.
About the winning composition, Balatro:
Balatro is a bold and eccentric work that pulls performers and listeners into the whimsical mind of a ‘balatro’ - the Latin word for joker. With a wink and a twist, this imaginative piece introduces young musicians to the intriguing octatonic scale in a way that’s both thoughtful and accessible, providing a fast-paced captivating journey through fluid tonal shifts. Despite its tonal playfulness, the piece remains anchored to the familiar comfort of concert Bb, offering an ideal blend of exploration and stability.
Committee Members
The NBA/Alfred Young Band Composition Contest Committee includes:
- Gregory Denson, Cheek Middle School (TX)
- Tiffany Hitz, Robinson Secondary School (VA)
- Josey Jimenez, Duluth Middle School (GA)
Previous Winners
Previous winners include:
- 2022: Steven J. Pyter - PROXIMA B
- 2020: Brooke Pierson - The Lighthouse Keeps Watch
- 2018: Andrew Perkins - Gradients
- 2016: Haley Woodrow - And it Begins
- 2014: Erika Svanoe - The Haunted Carousel
- 2012: Clifton Jones - Rondo Picoso
Other Recognitions and Initiatives
Beyond composition contests, various other recognitions and initiatives contribute to music education and appreciation:
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA): The NEA supports arts nationwide through grants and various programs.
- Blue Star Museums: Offer free admission to military families during the summer.
- Jeffco Schools Foundation: Supports student artists through community support, strengthening the music, theatre and visual arts community, investing in arts educators, and stimulating growth in young artists.
- Baylor University School of Music: Baylor voice students have had a highly successful past few years. Baylor has produced more NATS finalists than any other university in our region.
The Importance of Music Education
Music education is essential for students' overall development and success. According to the National Association for Music Education, arts education programs should be grounded in rigorous instruction, provide meaningful assessment of academic progress and performance, and take their place within a structure of direct accountability to school officials, parents, and the community.
Music education rooted in academic standards provides students with unique experiences and skills essential for success in school and beyond. It fosters creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration, preparing students for a future where these skills are highly valued.
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